Ceramic heating element and gas heater embodying the same



Feb. 9, 1943. RA. DUDLEY CERAMI C HEATING ELEMENT AND GAS HEATER EMBODYING THE SAME Filed July 26, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l QW @flw ig? CERAMIC HEATING ELEMENT AND GAS HEATER EMBODYING THE SAME R'. A. DUDLEY Feb. 9, 1943.

.2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed I July 26, 1939 Patented Feb. 9, 1943 CERAMIC HEATING ELEMENT AND GAS HEATER EMBODYING THE SAME Roy A. Dudley, Huntington, W. Va., assignor to Armstrong Products Corporation, Huntington, W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Application July 26, 1939, Serial No. 286,711

1 Claim. (01. 126-92) 1 head portion b of the member to the base por- The invention concerns a ceramic member for a gas heater of the type which employs a radiant member against which the gas flame impinges and it also concerns the combination of said radiant member with the stove structure.

The invention consists in the features, constructions, and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a sectional plan View of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of a part of the appliance with certain parts in section.

Fig. 3 is a side view with parts shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the radiant member against which the gas flame impinges.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4 looking in the arrow direction.

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6- 6 of Fig. 5 looking in the arrow direction.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View on line 'i'l of Fig. 5 looking in the arrow direction.

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the radiant member.

Fig. 9 is a detail view of a holding clip.

Fig. 10 is a detail view of part of a closure or door for closing a rear opening in the heater.

In these drawings, i indicates a gas burner which may be of any desired construction. It is of elongated form and has nozzles 2 for the emission of the jets of gas which are directed upwardly to act upon the ceramic or radiant member 3. The gas burner receives its supply of gas through any suitable valve 4, mixing chamber 5, and conduit 5 extending to the burner. The elongated burner extends crosswise of the heater, which is made up generally of the front wall 8, back wall 9, and sides I ll. The front wall includes a grill made up of horizontal cross bars 8a with spaces 822 between them, this formation being obtained by stamping out the sheet metal of which the front of the case is composed. The ceramic member 3 which becomes radiant under the action of the gas flames is of generally parallelepipedon form, being a six sided figure with certain faces parallel. It is of elongated form and extends with its long axis crosswise of the casing, the end walls e of the member being disposed adjacent the sides H! of the casing.

The front face of the radiant member is divided up into a series of vertically extending bars ,a which are spaced apart and extend from the partly broken away and tion 0 thereof. The openings between these bars are marked 01. The end walls of the ceramic member are solid except at their lower ends said walls are provided with openings J reaching up only a comparatively short distance of said walls.

The head of the ceramic member is provided with three openings 9 more or less, according to the width of the member. These openings are directed upwardly. Said openings are of rectangular, elongated form, and they are spaced clips have each a ledge apart lengthwise of the head.

The rear wall of the ceramic or radiant member is provided with a series of short, vertically extending bars a separated by short vertical spaces or vertically extending slots (1 The upper ends of these slots are at the same level as the upper ends of the slots or openings d. These short bars and the slots between them reach down only about one fifth of the height of the interior of this member.

On the inner side of the front and back walls of the radiant member, projections 71. of conical form are provided of the same ceramic material of which all the other parts of said member are formed, and all in one piece.

Some of these projections are distributed along the inner sides of the vertical bars a at the front of the member, and others are arranged in vertical rows on the solid portion of back wall of the member, and some on the short vertical bars a located near the top of said back wall. All of these projections extend with their axes in a direction horizontally across the interior combustion chamber of this radiant member, and adjacent the axial lines of the jets of gas issuing from the nipples of the gas burner. The combustion chamber designated generally by A of the ceramic member is closed at its ends by the walls e, is closed at its top by the head b,except for the few openings g of restricted area, and it is completely open at its bottom throughout the full length and width of the said chamber. This open bottom formation is illustrated in Fig. 1, and the absence of a bottom wall in Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate that this bottom opening extends from end to end of the member.

This radiant element is supported above the gas burner by metal clips i which are secured to the body of the gas burner and engage over the .upper face of the flange k which projects horizontally at front and rear of the base of the ceramic member. There are two of these clips at each side of the radiant member, and the portion m for supporting the said radiant member which is notched as at n to receive the ledge portion of the clip. The clips hold the radiant member slightly elevated from the body of the burner, and this allows air to reach the interior of the combustion chamber through the open bottom thereof.

The construction and arrangement of the radiant member renders replacement convenient in case of breakage. It will be noticed that the flange k at the front of the ceramic member forms a horizontal extension of the base portion of said member from which portion the spaced apart bars a rise in parallel spaced apart relation, the said bars and base portion being integrally connected. The front flange k which as stated forms an extension of the said base portion guards the juncture of the spaced apart bars a with the base portion and adds strength to the structure at this point in addition to furnishing the part with which the clips 1' at the front of the member can connect for holding said member in proper position and for furnishing a support therefor at a point slightly elevated in relation to the burner.

Under the burner I, a bafile plate H is provided supported by its flanges l2, secured by screws iii to angle bars l4 which also support the burner, ears lb of which are bolted to said bars. The baffle plate controls the flow of air into the stove casing by leaving inlet spaces at the front and back of the heater, ending, as it does, short of the front or back walls of the heater, as shown at x, Figs. 1 and 3, the inlet at the back being the larger.

The ceramic radiating member 3 which, in operation, approaches a state of incandescence, is of such construction as to present an effective combustion chamber within it for safe and odorless burning of the fuel. This member is so mounted within the casing of the stove that rapid passage of air is induced around it and against the surfaces of the supporting body.

The ceramic member is referred to herein, for convenience, as a radiant member, but as previously stated it does not attain incandescence but merely approaches said incandescent state.

The heating effect is such as to enhance combustion and to minimize condensation of combustion products. large incandescent area is presented for the burning of the fuel, or those products given off by the gas jets.

The heat radiated from the ceramic member is effectively used in this improved arrangement as nearly all the heat from the radiant member strikes the interior surfaces of the enclosing casing, heats the said surfaces, which, in turn, heats the circulating air impinging thereupon, which, added to the heating effect of the incandescent surfaces of the ceramic member, raises the temperature of the circulating air which is discharged into the room to a high degree, and substantially free from objectionable products of combustion. The combustion chamber of the radiant member is of elongated form in the transverse direction of the heater, and the grating made up of the long vertical bars presents a wide front and large area of incandescent material alternating with the vertical slots between the bars giving outlets to the front adjacent the grating in the front wall of the casing, by which a wide distribution of the burning gases takes place from side to side of the ceramic member and of the stove as a whole. Thus, the

The construction is such that a.

burning gases are mainly directed forwardly of the heater, giving the effect of an open grate.

This effect is enhanced by the imperforate end wall of the radiant member and the large area of imperforate back wall of the ceramic member. Distribution of the burning gases from the laterally elongated combustion chamber takes place in sufficient degree through the grating formed by the openings in the top wall thereof to distribute the heat from the burning gases upwardly and rearwardly from the radiant members through slots or openings (not shown) in said top wall.

The glowing radiant member is visible from the front of the heater through the open spaces or horizontally disposed slots in the front wall of the casing. The vertical bars on the front side of the radiant member, when incandescent, present a pleasing appearance as they extend vertically across the horizontal planes in which the slots lie.

The heater may be marketed in a plurality of sizes, differing from each other mainly in the width of the radiant members and of the enclosing casing, the burners, of course, varying proportionately in length to correspond with the width of stoves they are intended to serve.

The radiant member is installed through a rear opening closed by a door indicated at l2, which has a flange I3 which, when the door is slipped into place, will engage a part of the main casing of the stove to retain the door in place, resting at its lower end on clips, one of which is shown at 12a.

The projections h extending inwardly from the walls of the radiant member into the combustion chamber thereof serve to break up currents of burning gases, distribute them throughout the width of the said chamber, and being incandescent when the stove is in operation, afford a large area in the aggregate against which the gases impinge for their substantially complete combustion. These projections serve also to conduct heat from the combustion chamber to the bars and walls of the radiant to make it incandescent for heating the air within the casing.

The stove may be broadly designated as a circulating heater having a clay or ceramic radiant member within its casing designed to heat the walls thereof and also to heat the air circulating within the stove and distributed therefrom through the grating or openings in the casing wall. The heater needs no vent to atmosphere. The relation and locations of the openings through the front rear and top walls of the radiant member to the capacity of the combustion chamber and to the capacity of the burner afford adequate passages for the flow of the gases being burned, and render it impossible to overload the heating element, thereby preventing imperfect or improper combustion.

As the radiant member is formed all in one piece, cost of production is reduced.

The flange k of the radiant member surrounding the opening in the bottom thereof reinforces the structure against damage from rough handling, and provides the means to be engaged by the holding clips 2' for retaining the radiant in place above the burner. The arch shaped openings 1 at the lower parts of the end walls of the radiant member serve as lighter openings, access to which is had through a suitable opening in the casing.

The so-called baffle plate under the burner prevents excess heating of the floor, or other surface on which the heater rests, and also, as

before mentioned, it directs the air currents upwardly at back and front of the heater in proper proportions, and prevents the front and rear walls of the casing from becoming so hot as to do damage to anything contacting therewith.

The form of the radiant element lends itself to sturdy construction.

I claim:

A hollow, open bottom ceramic radiant element of general parallelepipedon form comprising a front wall made up mainly of vertically extending spaced apart bars connected at their lower ends to a base portion which has a horizontal flange extending forwardly beyond the vertical plane in which said bars lie, said flange having an exposed upper face, said element having a rear wall with a horizontally extending flange at the rear face of the base portion thereof in substantially the same horizontal plane with the forwardly extending flange first mentioned and with an exposed upper face, said element having substantially parallel end walls and a top wall, the upper ends of the vertically extending bars being connected to the said top wall, the spaces between the vertical bars extending each clear from the flanged front base portion to the said top wall for the uninterrupted flow of hot products upwardly and forwardly, a burner and supporting means embracing said flanges, contacting the base and holding the element spaced apart from and above the burner, substantially as described.

' ROY A. DUDLEY. 

